According to the fourth annual Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) Monitor survey of over 21,000 consumers, shareholders and corporate employees in 21 countries, significant proportions of people in most countries are unable to name a socially responsible company.
People have a difficult time naming socially responsible companies despite consistently high expectations for companies to be socially responsible, strong interest in learning more about corporate social performance, and high levels of consumer activism and empowerment around corporate social responsibility.
The 2003 CSR Monitor investigates a range of corporate issues including trust in companies, corporate governance, expectations of companies, communicating CSR, rating companies on CSR, ethical consumerism, socially responsible investing, and human resource issues.
For the detailed topic list, please visit http://www.environicsinternational.com/sp-csr.asp www.environicsinternational.com/sp-csr.asp
The survey reveals a number of important insights with implications for strategic planning, risk management, communications, and internal engagement.
Some topline findings from the 2003 CSR Monitor include:
Consumers in the developing world increasingly expect companies to go beyond their traditional economic roles. For the first time in four years of polling, consumers in developing countries are waking up to CSR and demanding more from companies in social and environmental areas.
There have been significant, but opposite, changes in both the United States and Japan in the perceived role of companies in society.
Recent corporate scandals in the United States, and the resulting debates around corporate governance, have lowered expectations for companies to go beyond the traditional economic role. In Japan, meanwhile, consumer attitudes and behaviors are finally moving toward high North American and European levels of demands for CSR.
CSR has more appeal to consumers than cause-related marketing. A holistic approach to CSR resonates much more with consumers across most countries surveyed than a cause-related marketing or "add-on" strategy of doing business and supporting charities.
We invite you to join other leading companies around the world and subscribe to the 2003 CSR Monitor research program, which includes the results of the survey in powerpoint format, as well as a high-level executive report and customized in-person briefing.
For participating countries and detailed topics, please visit www.environicsinternational.com/sp-csr.asp
These results are based on research conducted by Environics Internationals worldwide network of research institutes. In each country, extensive face-to-face or telephone interviews were conducted with representative samples of about 1,000 citizens (for a total of 21,000). Each national poll is accurate to within ±3 percent, 19 times out of 20.
The complete country-by-country results for these and many other topics are available by subscription to the 2003 CSR Monitor research program.
